(no subject)

[the_rck]

Cordelia’s PT today is going to mean her missing yet another standardized test. This one is likely to have more restrictions in terms of when she’s allowed to make it up because it’s actually a test that determines the school’s ranking and affects funding. The one she missed last week was just an evaluation to see if her reading lexile has changed much. They generally want kids to get higher scores in the spring than in the fall, but Cordelia was already near the top of the scale, so I don’t think any of us feel any urgency about it.

I suggested that, since Scott’s driving us for the PT appointment and since we would be getting Cordelia back to school right before lunch, the three of us should go out for lunch. I was thinking Applebee’s because it’s very near the clinic and because we can all find something edible even if not thrilling. Scott is pitching a sushi place, based largely on them having bubble tea. Looking at the online menu, they do stuff that isn’t sushi.

Cordelia wasn’t sure about going to lunch because of missing the lunchtime meeting of the Gay-Straight Alliance, and I told her it was up to her. I can see that lunch with her parents might be less attractive than lunch with her friends. She finally decided that lunch with us would be better. I suspect that the realization that, if we brought her straight back, she’d arrive at school with twenty to thirty minutes of the hour scheduled for the NWEA left to go had an impact on her decision. That’s not long enough to finish but is also too long to just sit there and not make an effort to finish.

The GSA is trying to set up a reading of I Am Jazz! by Jessica Herthel at one of the local bookstores. I don’t think they’ve gotten anybody to agree to host yet, but they do have a date in mind (which seems backwards to me, but oh, well). They’re really hoping for Nicola’s to host.

I haven’t heard anything else from either my mother or my father. Cordelia wants to make plans with her friends for the weekend, and I don’t want to keep her hanging. I also don’t want her to miss the chance to see her grandmother if that could happen. I really don’t know. Mom might just do the work on the house and head back to Louisiana without coming over to our side of the state.

My father… Well, I’m a little confused. He said he’d be coming by the end of the month, and there’s only a week left. Surely he knows his schedule by now? At least, when he arrives in state and when he leaves again, I mean. He may be trying to work out the logistics. I’m sure he doesn’t want to rent a car, but if he doesn’t he really won’t be able to visit us and his mother and siblings. Also, if he doesn’t rent a car, my cousin pretty much has to drive down to pick him up at the airport, and my cousin doesn’t have a lot of time for things like that. I’m pretty sure that seeing his mother and siblings is higher priority than seeing us (though he probably doesn’t want to admit it). His mother is 91 and fading. His brother and sister are both in very, very poor health and unable to go anywhere without an oxygen tank. My aunt has been in hospice for years now because they’re the only ones in the area who can provide the oxygen tanks.

Cordelia’s school is doing their annual plant sale. Normally I’d at least buy a gift card since they’re working with the place where I normally buy seedlings, but I’m not sure that I can really do anything at all out of doors as it gets warmer. I don’t know that I want the raised beds in front of the house full of weeds, but none of us are going to be able to keep up with them. I will miss the herbs, but it’s not like I’m going to be going out there to appreciate them or harvest them. I know people who’d be willing to help out in getting the beds set up. I just don’t really know that it’s a good use of their time.

Comments

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

I'd be happy to set up the raised beds. It's a fine use of my time!

[the_rck]

I'm dithering. On the one hand, I would like to have them look nice. On the other hand, I'm not sure I'm actually going to see them for more than thirty seconds at a time this summer.

Let me check with Scott about money. Seedlings might or might not be in the budget. I think that may be the determining factor.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

I'd be happy to bring seedlings from my garden. I always have forget-me-nots and dill that come back by themselves year after year. I may also have some spare seedlings from the ones I started under lights; I am not sure about that yet. If you have a shady spot, I definitely have a spare coleus seedling or two that I could bring by. Also I'm flooded in grape hyacinths if you'd like some of those. They are someplace between "weed" and "totally indestructible." :-P

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Over the summer, the grape hyacinths tend to either pretend to be grass or totally go dormant, though, so I don't know if they would be interesting in your raised beds.

Also I have a ton of creeping vinca, which looks pretty and makes lavender flowers from time to time, but it is somewhat invasive and hard to get rid of. But it could potentially make for a very easy-to-care-for raised bed over the summer if you want it. And my neighbor says she can remove it from places where she doesn't want it anymore, so I know it can be done.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Also I have garlic plants that are fascinating to watch how they grow, even if you don't have any interest in eating garlic. I could transplant a few to your raised beds and they would Do Things. :)

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Another thing multiplying happily in my garden is celandine poppies. They make pretty yellow flowers that turn into oddball dangly seedpods. They need shade, and the sap/roots can cause an allergic rash in some people, so I don't know if this is something that you would want. But they are very easy to care for and kind of entertaining.

I also always have lots of ajuga. It creeps around the garden enthusiastically, makes purple flowers occasionally, and can be removed easily when you want it out, so I consider it fairly well-behaved.

Any interest in irises? I could pass you a clump of white ones that grow enthusiastically and once a year make flowers that look a little like popcorn. Those came with my house and are still going strong.

[the_rck]

I got blisters and rash from rue, so I'm not interested in risking something else that might do the same.

Ajuga would definitely be good. I had some at one point (it may still be growing around the base of one of the raised beds. I left it there in hopes that it would spread and surround the beds). I did manage to get rid of it.

I don't think I'll go for the iris. That would be a multi-year project. I may need that, but I'm still hoping not.

Thanks so much!

[the_rck]

I hesitate on the creeping vinca, too. Although... We have the very small bed that Scott plunked a rose in the middle of. I don't want to plant anything that will grow high around the rose. Does the vinca? The creeping part of the name leads me to think it might not.

Right at the moment, that small bed is overrun with some sort of very low growing weed. I thought, for a moment, that it might be thyme which I did plant there a couple of years ago, but the leaves had no scent, so I really doubt it (also, thyme doesn't prosper in those beds. I think it needs more sun).

I'm very wary of flowers in general because of allergies. Admittedly, I'm not going to be out there much at all, so I suppose that's less of a concern than it usually is. Mostly I go for herbs and coleus. Scott likes the color from the coleus, and I like that they're not flowers.

I think I want to buy one rosemary plant and put it somewhere. That should be under $5, I think, or at worst $10, and we actually use fresh rosemary for cooking occasionally.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

The creeping vinca gets about 4-6 inches tall, so it should combine nicely with the rosebush.

I'd be happy to pick up a rosemary plant on the way over, if you'd like.

[the_rck]

At this point, I think the rosebush might be dead. There's no sign of any growth at all.

And I would love a rosemary plant. (And I am way, way behind on dealing with LJ comments...)

[the_rck]

I'm definitely interested in coleus.

The raised beds only get something between four and six hours of sun a day, so things that deal well with shade are essential.

I'm not so enthusiastic about the grape hyacinths because I'd like to think that I'll come back and plant other stuff later.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Ok, definitely some coleus plants.

The grape hyacinths are very removeable, so I think it would be okay there.